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The Monkees (Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork) were pulled together in order to star in a successful comedy television show first aired on NBC in 1966.

The music for the series had been created by Don Kirschner and throughout the life of the band, many more esteemed songwriters added their input to The Monkees phenomenon, including Neil Diamond ("A Little Bit ... Read more in Amazon's Monkees Store

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

No, I'm not kidding. 'Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.' is not only the Monkees' best album ('Headquarters' ranks a close second), it's one of the ten best rock or pop albums of the '60's, and ranks right alongside 'Revolver', 'Pet Sounds', 'Forever Changes', 'Beggars Banquet', 'Highway 61 Revisited', 'Are You Experienced ?' and 'Rubber Soul'. A reevaluation of the Monkees' collective talents is WAY overdue; when you realize that these guys came together as two actors and two semi-pro musicians who auditioned for a TV series because they were in desperate need of work AND THEN forced themselves to become a REAL band, it's pretty amazing just how damn good (and often great) they became. The musical growth and diversity they display on this album is truly astounding --Mike Nesmith, the band's most talented member, shines on tracks like "The Door Into Summer", "Love Is Only Sleeping", and his yearning, soaring vocal on the magnificent country-like "What Am I Doin' Hanging Round ?" (possibly his all time greatest vocal performance). Micky shines on what still might rank as the finest three-minute exploration of suburban disenchantment ("Pleasant Valley Sunday"), as well as what may be the first usage of Moog synthesizer on a rock record ("Daily Nightly"). Even Davy - usually the weak link in the band - manages to charm and delivery solid performances on Harry Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy", "She Hangs Out" and the groupie tribute "Star Collector". Only Peter fails to make an impression here, although his solid musicianship can be heard on several tracks. The remastered sound on this disc really jumps out at you, and highlights what is already a superb album.Read more ›

This album is middle of the road rock with very serviceable songs with a few excellent exceptions. The album dates back to 1967, the year the Monkees outsold The Beatles and the peak of The Monkees success.

The CD starts off with Michael Nesmith singing "Salesman," a bouncy country-flavored tune. Davy Jones is the lead singer on the following song, "She Hangs Out." This song is sung in a style similar to that of a number of other teen idols during the era and appears intended to target teenage girls. The vocals are among Davy's best.

Michael Nesmith sings the next track, "The Door into Summer." This song is one of my personal favorites because it was inspired by the Robert A. Heinlein novel of the same title. The song is about searching and opportunities lost, elements of which were in the Heinlein novel. This song is well constructed and superior to Michael's first track on this CD.

Michael is also the lead singer on "Love Is Only Sleeping." This song is even more inspired and better than the previous track. There are several special effects and Michael sings this song very well. While the flavor of the song is pop, the song is as original in style as any of the pop of the era, and one indication that the Monkees were trying hard to create their own sound.

"Cuddly Toy" was very good from several view points. Davy Jones was an excellent choice as the lead singer. The style of the song is deceptively innocent and light, but Harry Nilsson's lyrics were about a Hell's Angels gang bang. The innocent sounding music flew past censors and record company executives, and it was only after the release of the album that anyone other than Nilsson and the Monkees knew the meaning of the song.Read more ›

If you need a quick comparison, this is like The Monkees' version of REVOLVER; every song has a different style, and it all fits together into a perfect whole. SO MANY GREAT SONGS! "Salesman" (consumer activism), "She Hangs Out" (Las-Vegas show-stopper, and a big improvement on the original version), "Love Is Only Sleeping" (perhaps the most powerful song Mike ever sung that was written by somebody else--its lyrics tear your heart open but leave you filled with hope). Then there's "Cuddly Toy" (perhaps Davy's best "music-hall" styler?), "Words" (great, though I prefer the original found on MISSING LINKS 2), "Hard To Believe" (bossa-nova!), "What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round" (country-western!) "Pleasant Valley Sunday" (possibly THE greatest Monkees song ever? ) "Daily Nightly" (deeply psychedelic, with Mike writing & Micky singing & playing) and the absolutely mind-blowing finale, "Star Collector". These were some of the greatest recordings done by these guys, and the amazing thing is this wasn't a "greatest hits" album!My only beef over the years is the use of an alternate version of "Pleasant Valley Sunday", when the one on the 45 and the TV show was always, to me, the "definitive" one (see Rhino's GREATEST HITS to compare!). And HOW did "Goin' Down" (or, for that matter, "Daydream Believer") get left OFF originally? As for the bonus tracks, I'm afraid I feel about all these "alternate mixes" the way I do about 90% of the stuff on the 3 BEATLES ANTHOLOGY albums-- "interesting", but I'll keep the "originals".